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documented the significance of Alonge’s work as one of the earliest indigenous photographers in West Africa (see Kaplan 1990; 1991a; 1991b). During many years of fieldwork in Benin (mid- 1980s–1990s), Kaplan befriended 150 Alonge and was a frequent visitor to his studio. She documented his photographic apprenticeship as a youth in Lagos during the 1920s and his calling to a profession he viewed as honorable and distinguished. In 1942, Alonge established the Ideal Studio in Benin City (fig. 6). He clearly demonstrated an inclusive documentary perspective in his efforts to photograph many aspects of the world around him, including the establishment of churches, businesses, and industries, and the formation of civic organizations, athletic clubs, and social groups like the Benin Social Club (of which Alonge was a founding member). As a portrait photographer, Alonge photographed individuals and various groups, preserving a visual record of the local residents and social history of Benin City in the mid to late twentieth century. His portraits illustrate how the local Edo community engaged with the photographer and the practice of studio photography (many were in front of the camera for the first time) and how his patrons chose to present themselves in this context (figs. 7–10). Alonge’s portrait photography represents a transition in West African studio photography from conventional poses with Victorian-era painted backdrops in the 1920s and 1930s to an increased engagement with the medium by patrons who dressed up in the latest cosmopolitan fashions and hairstyles, invented poses, and used props, furniture, and other possessions to present themselves in novel ways during the 1940s–1970s. Alonge’s studio portraits illustrate the critical role of photography in creating modes of self-expression relating to family and social unity as well as notions of style and dress that continue to shape individual and group identities in African societies. Hand-colored photographs in the collection illustrate Alonge’s artistic sensibilities and self-taught talents with oil paints. With a Marshall’s Photo-Oil Colors paint set and instruction booklet ordered from New York, Alonge handcolored a number of his favorite photographs, several of which are featured in the exhibition. One of the most striking examples is an oversize portrait of Alonge’s cousin and close friend, Chief Francis Edo Osagie. Dressed in his chieftaincy regalia, this photograph was taken in 1958 when the oba conferred the title of Obarisiuwa of Benin upon Osagie. This beautiful hand-colored photograph illustrates Alonge’s nuanced and skillful use of colors in the chief’s elaborate costume with coral bead necklaces, bronze and ivory bracelets, pendant, and sword (eben) (fig. 12). The relationship between African arts and photography is further explored with a display of factoryprinted cloth in the museum’s permanent collection. Alonge’s photographs of the obas and the Queen Mother have become iconic images of Benin royalty and continue to circulate on commemorative textiles and shirts (fig. 11). The installation features Alonge’s vintage black-and-white prints along with their reproductions in factory-printed textiles. Some of his wellknown photographs have also become the inspiration for modern artists, who now preserve these iconic images as bronze figures and plaques. Alonge’s and other photographers’ images of Queen Elizabeth greeting Oba Akenzua II at the Benin City airport (1956) and Jonathan A. Green’s photograph of Oba Ovonramwen on board the Niger Coast Protectorate vessel S.Y. Ivy being taken into exile (1897) are two well-known examples. In my own research in Nigeria for the exhibition, Alonge’s photographs have served as a reflexive visual resource that engages the memory and reflections of members of the Benin community. Through ongoing fieldwork in Benin City, a number of Alonge’s subjects have been identified, located, and interviewed. Many are still alive and healthy in their late 70s and early 80s. They remember the photographer as a kind and honest businessman, who was a respectable member of the community and served the oba and his own church loyally and faithfully. “By their works, you shall know them” is a popular saying in Benin. Alonge’s works—his archive of photographic images—have preserved a visual history of twentiethcentury Benin that now continues to inform twenty-firstcentury visitors, scholars, and photographic researchers about the arts and photography of the Benin kingdom. Chief S. O. Alonge: Photographer to the Royal Court of Benin, Nigeria September 17, 2014–September 13, 2015 National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC africa.si.edu FIG. 11 (above): Textile commemorating the funeral of Oba Akenzua II which incorporates a photo by S. O. Alonge. Created by Christy Aghaku Akenzua, 1978. National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution (2004-10-4). Photograph by Franko Khoury. FIG. 12 (right): Chief Francis Edo Osagie, c. 1958. Hand-colored photograph by Solomon Osagie Alonge. Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. REFERENCES Kaplan, Flora S., 1990. “Some Uses of Photographs in Recovering Cultural History at the Royal Court of Benin, Nigeria.” In Visual Anthropology, vol. 3: 317–341. ———, 1991a. “Fragile Legacy: Photographs as Documents in Recovering Political and Cultural History at the Royal Court of Benin.” In History in Africa 18: 205–237. ———, 1991b. “Benin Art Revisited: Photographs and Museum Collections.” In Visual Anthropology, vol. 4: 117–145. PORTFOLIO


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